Newsletter
Dear All,
I hope you are all doing well in spite of the chaos going on in the world in general. Lama Tara asked me how we Dharma practitioners can see all that is going on without feeling totally overwhelmed and distressed. The activist in us wants to rise up and do something but what? There is so much going wrong and yet at the same time so much courage, resilience and standing up for what is right. What can we do to help?
Personally I keep praying that I will always be guided and know what the right thing to do is. It is not that there is always an obvious right thing to do and for sure none of us can do more than our own small part in the whole. It is important to remember that it is our intention that is the forerunner of all that happens to us. The pranidhanas we make now set us up for all our lifetimes to come and we have taken Refuge in the Three Jewels - the Mandala of Awakening…so whatever happens we will continue on the path and not lose our way. As Bodhisattvas we have taken on all beings not just in this day and age, not just in this human world, not just for the living but also the dead and dying, the big and the small, the beings in the hells and hungry ghosts, even the gods, animals and nagas and so on. As a Christian I was dismayed that one would be able to see the beings in hell from heaven and not be able to do anything to help them. As a Buddhist on the Bodhisattva path I am committed to work forever for every one of them - whatever I do Dharmically it is for the benefit of all of them - they are all emanating from the Ultimate Mandala just as I am. I find the vaster vision helps keep things in perspective. The state of the world seems to be getting worse and worse but in total samsara is no worse than it ever was - it is our way of looking at it all that has to change if we want to not be overwhelmed by it all. The origin of suffering is not recognising our own true nature as Buddha…that is the true nature of everyone - Trump, beetles, our best friends….everyone!
So why are all these terrible things happening in the world just now?. In essence we are all Buddha and our world is Appearance Emptiness, the enlightened form of the Buddha. Why then are all these awful things going on in the world? Well as western Buddhists we have a tendency to overlook the Buddha’s teachings on Karma. Some western Buddhists even claim the Buddha never taught about karma. However, for me it keeps me sane to think that while on the one hand whatever appears to our senses is the play of Jnana - the display of the ultimate mandala, the form of the Guru, the way it manifests to me is conditioned by my karmic inheritance and tendencies. I have no idea what karmic act of the past will manifest today or tomorrow. Death could come at any time as could any life changing disaster. However karma also means that whatever skilful actions i perform today will ripen as happy situations in the future. Time is not as real as we tend to think. Neither is space - this place - it has a reality but not the reality that we grasp at and cling to from the perspective of our narrow minded ego mandala.
When I pray for the peace of the world and dedicate punya to bring about change and well being - if I think it's ‘little me’ saying a few little words with a good intention - then why would it count for much? Wouldn’t it be better to actually do something practically? Sometimes it is important to take practical action but that isn’t going to save the world. Suffering will still be going on and we as Bodhisattvas will have to stick around to help in any way we can. When as Bodhisattvas we pray we are not little - we are linking in with the Bodhichitta of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas - we are opening ourselves so that they can work through us in whatever way is possible. Rather than beating ourselves for not doing more, when we are not sure if we are doing enough - we need to redouble our efforts to open to the Buddhas in faith and prayer - make pranidhanas. If we are worried that we are not doing enough, pray about it - we all have our part to play, none of us can do everything so just let’s make sure we are doing something at least - and remember to rejoice in the good we do even if it doesn’t seem much. It is so easy to get caught up in thinking that somehow I have to justify my existence by doing more - pushing on when it is unsustainable. If others seem to be doing more than we are to help - remember to rejoice in what they are doing and make pranidhanas to one day be able to help others like that. If we just play our part as best we reasonably can - in a way that is sustainable over the long term, then we will be leading others to do the same - think about how inspired we are when we hear of brave deeds. As we rejoice in the qualities and good done by others - those qualities increase in ourselves - that is not our ego selves but the depths of our true selves.
Our true self is not little. When you think of a single point in the whole of space it seems insignificant and small but that is to forget that a point is dimensionless - it cannot be measured - it is immeasurable - it is not small and neither are we. When we pray it is not little ego-centred me faced with powerful Buddhas out there far beyond me. The world around us that is clearly going wrong in so many ways seems huge - solidly real and more or less all that there is. However, Emptiness means that although it seems so real - ‘the real world out there’ - it never lasts even a fraction of a second and can not be pinned down as existing anywhere either in my mind or outside it - yet beings suffer in it until they learn to see it as it truly is - so rejoice in the compassion of the Awakened Mandala that holds us in its power and draws us to the path that leads to complete Awakening for ourselves and all beings.
We can be cheerful with a clear conscience whatever the suffering that is going on in the world around us. Our cheerfulness is infectious and helps those around us to bear their sufferings with courage - whether they are alive or dead at any particular moment! Praying for the dead and dying as well as the living is something we can always be doing… from our hearts - from the depths of our true being - not little prayers but all-pervading prayers invoking the blessing of all the Buddhas. This is karmic action that brings about happiness now and throughout time!.
I have just come back from a five day trip down to Wells- Somerset to visit the Cathedral and to meet the author of the book ‘The Cosmos in Stone -The Sacred Geometry of a Master Mason’ by Tom Bree. It is about Tom’s discoveries from years of research into the geometry of the architecture and ground plan of Well’s Cathedral, the first Gothic Cathedral in England and a kind of twin Cathedral to Chartres in France built around the same time (12-14th Century). It took over 100 years to build. Last September, I gave a talk about Mandala Principle at the Shambala centre in London attended by quite a few AHS students including Linda Malone and her friend Nicola Graves Gregory. Nicola recognised a lot of what I was saying from her interest in sacred geometry. It turned out that she knew Tom Bree and was able to introduce me to him and that is how Lama Tara, Eli, Sudhana and I ended up driving down to Wells to meet him on the spring solstice last week on St Cuthbert’s day.
We visited the Cathedral each morning at 7 in the morning when we had the place more or less to ourselves to meditate and absorb the atmosphere and beauty of our surroundings - the feel of just being there within that sacred space.
We meditated in the octagonal Lady chapel at the far eastern end of the Cathedral as the sun, which had well and truly risen by then passed over to the south-west lighting up the stained glass windows. We had in mind all the features Tom’s book had been describing, trying to sense the spiritual significance of the meticulous detail of the geometric forms and ritual uses of what we were sensing all around us. You can read more about our Wells trip HERE
Over the last few months Lama Dashon, Lama Tara, Mebar and I have been reviewing our vision for the Hermitage and revisiting the plans Jayasiddhi had put into place - even getting building permission for a purpose-built Dharma Hall three times the size of our present shrine room.
HH Jhyebtse Rinpoche told Rigdzin Shikpo and me that we should find a place within a square he drew on a map of NW Wales and build a stupa and/or a purpose built Dharma Hall (Hla kang) that would remain for hundreds of years, The architect of Wells Cathedral must have had the same kind of long term vision as he placed the Cathedral so perfectly aligned to the geometry of its landscape and latitude - so aligned to its spiritual purpose and meaning that it still speaks to us today after so many hundreds of years.
I will be continuing to explore the theme of ritual, symbolism and Mandala Principle over the course of this year and so this trip seems to fit perfectly into that plan!
With love and best wishes for the spring and Easter season! May all be auspicious.
Shenpen